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It spends its days on the darkest recesses of the internet but GCHQ has emerged from the shadows to become the first UK spy agency to join the Twitterati.

The listening post has launched a Twitter account as part of its drive for more transparency and posted its first message “Hello World” at 11.02am on Monday.

Officials admitted the intelligence agency may be joining the party “slightly late” but insisted it was a “big step”.

Those hoping for a blizzard of secrets being posted online will be disappointed but the agency has promised quizzes, info on its history and regular debates.

GCHQ has been under pressure to be more open following the furore around the leak of its methods by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden

A spokesman said: "We know that some will say we're joining the Twitter party slightly late but we're the first intelligence agency in the UK to do this and it's a big step for the organisation as we become more open about the work we do to keep Britain safe.

"We want GCHQ to be more accessible and to help the public understand more about our work, whilst also reaching out to the technical community and adding our voice to social media conversations about technology, maths, cyber security and other topics where we have a view."

But the spokesman stressed: “Some things have to stay secret - sorry - so we won't be providing intelligence updates or giving away tradecraft but we will be tweeting about our history, mission outcomes, languages, maths, cyber security, technology and innovation, information about GCHQ in general, job opportunities and yes, there will be puzzles!"

More than 600,000 people entered a Christmas card cryptography challenge issued by GCHQ in December.

The Twitter account will also be used to highlight events, publications, news blogs and opinion pieces.

Within an hour of launching, it already had almost 5,000 followers and as for those it was following, they including the official James Bond account.

As for its first foray on to the microblogging site, it doubles as a basic introduction to the Twittersphere and a nod to the agency's association with computing.

"A simple start but one that will resonate with computer programmers around the world, whilst also touching on our history and expertise in this area," the spokesman said, adding: "We also just wanted to say 'hi'."

Explaining the background to the Tweet, he continued: "It's one of the first programs you learn to write in coding languages such as C, Python, Java, PHP or Ruby.

"For those just starting to program, getting 'Hello, world' to appear on a screen is a gentle introduction to coding because you can see the output of your code represented visually on the screen.

"As a technical organisation with computing at its core, 'Hello, world' resonated with us because this is how many of our staff, who are amongst some of the world's most proficient programmers, started."

GCHQ - which stands for Government Communications Headquarters - has some way to go if it is to catch up with its US equivalent the National Security Agency, which joined Twitter in December 2013 and has more than 200,000 followers.

Andrew Pike, director of communications at GCHQ, said: "In joining social media, GCHQ can use its own voice to talk directly about the important work we do in keeping Britain safe."